Animal Well Review - A Wholly Unique Pixel Art Puzzle Masterpiece

I can’t remember the last time I’ve been stumped trying to describe just what makes a particular video game great. Usually, words come easily to me, and on paper, it’s easy to describe Animal Well as a puzzle-focused Metroidvania eschewing traditional combat, where nearly every room is a puzzle room, but that falls so far short of describing just what this game is and how expertly it defies genre and classification that it feels like a disservice. Animal Well is a paragon of the art form, a game that simply must be experienced.

An Unforgettable, Beautiful, Nightmarish Labyrinth

Animal Well is programmed by Billy Basso, developed by Shared Memory, and published by Bigmode, the company started by Videogamedunkey and his wife Leah. Given that this was one man’s fully-realized vision, this feels like an experience without compromises or caveats. At under 50MB, it is a complete package, and given the impressive lighting and soundscapes, I am astounded at what it’s able to accomplish with such a tiny digital footprint.

This is a game of enigmas and contradictions: a back-to-basics pixel art Metroidvania that’s anything but basic, and anything but your traditional Metroidvania. It’s simultaneously fresh and modern while also feeling retro, and like a game plucked from an alternate version of the 1990s. While there’s no dialogue or even written lore, the world feels dense and rich with history. And although there’s no traditional combat or health upgrades and you’re up against some serious threats, you are eventually given enough tools that you never feel totally powerless.

An ingenious toybox at your disposal

Starting out, you’ll emerge from a bud as a little blob-like creature capable of moving, jumping, and using items. One of the fun things about Animal Well is that you’ll be using repurposed children’s toys as key tools. You’ll be blowing many hundreds of bubbles with a bubble wand that you can jump on for height and ride down (or up, if there’s a fan). A slinky can drop down and activate switches, but drop it at the wrong spot and you might trigger a bird attack. A yo-yo can reach hard-to-reach spots and even break apart spikes. The disc, which you steal, Indiana Jones-style, from a terrifying dog ghost, can be used to traverse chasms, bounce off toggles, distract dogs, and break cracked walls, among other things. There are other tools I’m hesitant to spoil, but suffice to say by the end you’ll feel quite empowered at taking on the variety of challenges this game throws at you.

Progression feels organic, and as enemies are sparse and your tools soon become second nature, traversal between rooms is generally quite painless. On the detailed map, only blinking flame markers offer guidance. But objectives are often teased out on the edges of rooms, so even though the game never describes anything to you, you never feel railroaded or left adrift.

In addition to items necessary for progression, there are also many literal eggs to unlock, and while the game is around 6 hours long to beat, HowLongToBeat.com lists the Completionist run at a whopping 17.5 hours. This is one game I’ll aim to fully complete one day, when I have more time on my hands.

Low-key level design

So much of Animal Well’s success lies in what appears to be quite straightforward Metroidvania level design, but is at its heart a bold refinement of the formula. Unlike most Metroidvanias, the backtracking isn’t heinous, so you can progress the story rather quickly, but you’ll want to explore to your heart’s content when seeking out the game’s 64 total eggs. You’ll get used to really scanning your surroundings for a way through, or something you might have missed.

The levels also tie very nicely into one another. The map is divided into distinct sections, each one themed to a different animal. Each offers its own haunting imagery and soundscapes. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get the images of countless black cats spinning on wheels and meowing, the deadly tongue of a giant lizard, or the cries of an ostrich out to get you out of my head anytime soon.

The existential dread of an underground well

In writer Haruki Murakami’s award-winning novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, the main character Toru goes down deep into an abandoned well and isolates himself in order to enter into another realm and investigate several mysteries. This becomes an alternate state of consciousness where he must navigate liminal spaces from his subconscious and evade shadowy figures that will end his inner exploration runs. With a dystopian world and terrifying animals and ghosts to evade, Animal Well comes closer than any game I’ve played in years to capturing a feeling that transcends language, akin to the works of David Lynch or H. P. Lovecraft.

Incredible pixel art and sound design create an oppressively beautiful atmosphere that’s easy to love, beckoning you to lose yourself in this world even if or when the going can get frustrating (I personally appreciated the difficulty level). One almost yearns for a story of some sort to tie it all together, but the mysteries are fun on their own and you just know there will be some YouTube theories made about this.

One Size Does Not Fit All

This is not the type of game that will appeal to everyone. If you are not a fan of hardcore puzzle games or precision platformers, I hesitate to recommend Animal Well fully, but you might simply need to look up a guide or two on occasion. If you love games like Super Meat Boy, VVVVVV, Celeste, or anything from Alundra to Metroid, there’s no doubt you’ll find much to enjoy here. Sometimes the solution to any given puzzle will feel obvious; others are obscure. Some might not like that.

As for me, I constantly yearn for games like these - independent creations that break the mold and mic drop to other developers that you can make greatness on a budget. At a time when big publishers are messing up left and right and tens of thousands of wonderful developers are losing their jobs, I have nothing but positive things to say about a game publisher like Bigmode that’s providing what I can honestly say is one of my best gaming experiences in recent memory.

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Verdict: 5/5 (Exceptional)

PROS

• Intricate puzzle-solving with a bunch of fun tools

• Excellent pixel art design and low-fi soundscapes

• Rich, haunting atmosphere

• Ample replay value for exploring the whole map

CONS

• Main quest is a bit short

• No story or clear narrative to speak of

• Will not appeal to everyone

What I’ve Played

• Beat the game at around 7 hours

• Unlocked 29/64 eggs total and played a little postgame

• Played on the Nintendo Switch

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